India's Modi arrives at White House for ritzy state visit with Biden

WASHINGTON, US - JUNE 22: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the White House Thursday for a ritzy state visit with US President Joe Biden that is slated to be replete with pomp and circumstance. Modi was feted with a lavish arrival ceremony on the South Lawn, greeted by the Marine Corps band playing Hail to the Chief as throngs of White House visitors shouted his name. But overshadowing the visit was an outpouring of criticism from human rights advocates that prompted three prominent Democratic US lawmakers to boycott his upcoming congressional address. Progressive Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are slated to skip the event. Separately, 70 Democrats from both the House of Representatives and the Senate wrote a letter to Biden to discuss the need to protect human rights and democratic values in India as he meets with Modi this week. After a marching band clad in colonial-era garb concluded a performance on the South Lawn that included a rendition of Yankee Doodle, Biden welcomed Modi back to the White House, saying he has "long believed that the relationship between the United States and India will be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century." "The challenges and opportunities facing the world in this century require that India and the United States work together and lead together, and we are," he said, touting the growing importance the nations are placing on a multinational group they are part of alongside Australia and Japan. Appearing to address some of the rights criticism from his fellow Democrats, Biden said "equity under the law, freedom of expression, religious pluralism and diversity of our people -- these core principles have endured and evolved even as they have faced challenges throughout each of our nations' histories, and will fuel our strength, depth and future." (Footage by Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)